Rick Warren Reminds Christians that They’re Still Christians in the Voting Booth

I haven’t made a point of following Rick Warren’s political statements, but it’s always seemed that he tries very hard to be neutral and unprovocative. For some reason, though I can’t imagine why, it looks like the kid gloves are coming off:

“You don’t need to apologize for voting for a Christian worldview which stands up for the sanctity of life, the sanctity of sex and the sanctity of marriage. You don’t need to apologize for that because everybody votes what they believe,” Warren told thousands of Saddleback Church attendees at the launch of a new sermon series.

The Southern California pastor said those three issues (life, sex, marriage) are non-negotiables for Christians. While they may disagree on the economy or health care, what believers must be firm on is protecting the unborn, viewing sex as holy, and protecting traditional marriage.

“If you call yourself a Christian, you need to line up with what God says is the original intent of all three of these things,” he preached.

And:

He warned that there are four anti-Christian worldviews: materialism, hedonism, individualism and collectivism/socialism.

“People who don’t know God make government god,” Warren said of socialism. “The highest thing they can think of to make the world a better place is not the church, it’s not God, it’s government.”

“What I’ve discovered is this: politics is the religion of people who don’t know God,” he said to applause. “They treat it as everything. Again, there’s nothing wrong with politics; it’s just not the savior.”

Yes, yes, yes! Socialism belongs in the list of anti-Christian philosophies because it looks to man instead of God for salvation. Just because it seems nice to be generous with other people’s money doesn’t qualify it as Christian, even if you call it “social justice” instead of “socialism.” For crying out loud, why don’t more pastors point this out?